Deputy: Father's final act likely saved daughter from Colo. rock slide that killed 5 in family

By
P. SOLOMON BANDA
Associated Press

October 2, 2013 — 7:28am

Video (00:59) : A 13-year-old girl said her father shielded her as boulders crashed down on them on a Colorado hiking trail _ an action that authorities say probably saved her life even as her father and four other family members were killed.

BUENA VISTA, Colo. — A 13-year-old girl said her father shielded her as boulders crashed down on them on a Colorado hiking trail — an action that authorities say probably saved her life even as her father and four other family members were killed.

Rescuers dug Gracie Johnson out of the rubble after Monday's slide, and she was airlifted to a Denver-area hospital with a broken leg, the Chaffee County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.

"She told me at the last second when the boulders were coming down on top of them that he covered her up and protected her, which I believe it saved her life," said sheriff's Deputy Nick Tolsma.

Gracie's parents and sister from nearby Buena Vista were killed, as were two of her cousins from Missouri.

The massive slide left a gash the size of a football field in the mountainside, Undersheriff John Spezze said.

What triggered it wasn't immediately known, though Spezze said the area had heavy summer rain and a recent snowfall.

Rain or melting snow can make slides more likely by weakening a steep slope and making the rocks and soil heavier, said Jerry Higgins, an associate professor of geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

With enough data, geologists can identify slopes that are susceptible to slides, Higgins said, but finding all of them would be a massive undertaking.

"In Colorado, there's a lot of steep slopes, and I don't think anybody's got the money to pay for the studies for all the steep slopes," he said.

Witnesses said some of the boulders were the size of cars. A hiker who heard the slide in Chalk Creek Canyon ran down the trail and called for help, Spezze said.

Tolsma said he was one of the first at the scene and heard screaming from beneath the rubble. He saw Gracie Johnson's hand sticking up through the rocks.

"I started digging her out until I had more help come and we got her all the way out," he said.

The rock slide was too unstable for crews to retrieve the bodies Monday, so they waited till Tuesday, authorities said.

A candlelight vigil was being held Tuesday night at Buena Vista High School's football field. A memorial service for the Johnsons was set for Saturday at the high school gym, to be followed by a community meal; separate services were being organized for the nephews in Missouri. Buena Vista's Cornerstone Church also set up a fund for the family.

The U.S. Forest Service maintains the busy Agnes Vaille falls trail near St. Elmo ghost town. Spezze said officials have asked the Forest Service to close it permanently.

The trail is one of the first hikes recommended to people new to the area and is popular with tourists, said Margaret Dean, a regular hiker who has walked the trail with her 7-year-old grandson.

Dean, a copy assistant at The Mountain Mail newspaper in Salida, said the trail provides a view of the falls and the Chalk Creek Valley in the towering Collegiate Peaks.

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